Superheater boiler



5 Sheets-Sheet l J. A. BARNES SUPERHEATER BOILER Filed Feb. 27. 1932 May 8, 1934.

INVENTOR John ABarnes BY 0 /M ATTORNEY May 8, 1934. J. A. BARNES SUPERHEATIER BOILER Filed Feb. 27, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR John A.B&2n6S- ATTORNEY May 8, 1934. J. A. BARNES 7,

SUPERHEATER BOILERv Filed Feb, 27, 1932 5 SheetsSheet 5 Fly. 3

INVENTOR J hnABan'nes BY 49% M ATTORNEY May 8, 1934. J BARNES 1,957,929

' SUPERHEATER BOILER Filed Feb. 27, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR JohnABarnes BY (WM ATTO R N EY NETED ES PATENT OFFICE S UPERHEATER BOILER John A. Barnes, Chappaqua, N.- Y., assignor to The Snperheater Company, New York, N. Y.

Application February 2'7, 1932, Serial No. 595,496-

Claims. (01. 122473) My invention relates to steam generators and boiler appear in dotted lines in Fig. 2. In addi-- has as its principal object the provision of 2. tion to the steam drums 14 and 14a, Fig. 2 shows boiler having comparatively high generating cathe right hand steam and water drum 14b and pacity per unit of volume together with good the rear steam and water drum 140. All the 5 efiiciency, corresponding water drums appear similarly in 60 It is often desirable to place a boiler in a Fig. 5, this figure showing, in addition to the limited space so that the output per unit volume drums 16, 16a and 16b previously mentioned, the of the boiler is the main consideration in selecrear mud drum 160. Each water drum is contion of the design. It is nevertheless always denected to i rr p ndin s m nd water 19- sirable to maintain good efficiency if possible. I drum by a bank f tu The bank n i g 65 disclose hEiGlnbElOW in connection with the ache fr nt pair f dr m 14 n 16 is si n ed companying drawings, a design of boiler adapted by refer nce Character 18, the left hand, right to operate satisfactorily in a limited space such h n n r banks b in designated y h as that available in an electric locomotive while ChaTaCterS 131? and 130 p t v yhaving also a high efiiciency and high output per Th f r i n a vin an pp r n 10 unit v 1ume The novel featur s of my inv nlower drum, are connected together so as to act tion are pointed out in the appended claims. In as a uni y n cti n between a ja en nd order, however, that the invention may be fully of the drums. AS app in ig. 1, Steam d u 1 and clearly understood, I have illustrated in de-. is connected to steam drum 14a by a P p 20 2o tail in the accompanying drawings a boiler in making a 90 degree b a Connecting e tWO 75 accordance with my invention which has been drums below the water level. A similar p 22 selected by way of example from a number of connects the two drums 14 and 14a above the possible embodiments of the invention, and the water level. A third pipe, 24, connects the front following detailed description is given in connecand left sections between the mud drums 16 and 25 tion with said drawings. In the drawings, 16a. All three of the curved pipes 20, 22 and 24 Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a boiler in accordhave joints whereby they may be readily disconance with my invention, parts being broken away nected from the drums to facilitate the erection for purposes of illustration. or taking down of the boiler and the cleaning of Fig. 2 is a plan view of a boiler shown in Fig. l. the connecting pipes. A group of pipes similar to 30 Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 2, pipes 20, 22 and 24 connects ends of drums 14 5 parts being broken away for purposes of illusand 16 to drums 14b and 16b. Another such tration. group connects the ends of drums 14a and 16a Fig. 4 is a vertical section at right angles to to drums 14c and 16c, while a fourth group con- Fig. 3 taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3. nects drums 14b and 16b to drums 14c and 160.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken on the line Appropriate reference characters are applied to 5-5 of Fig. 3, the front face of Fig. 5 being at such curved connecting tubes where ever they the right. appear in the drawings, although not all of them The boiler illustrated in the drawings comare visible in the drawings. prises four sections each of which has an upper The four sided boiler formed by the four banks 40 steam and water drum and a lower water drum of tubes indicated above is supported on a base. connected by a bank of substantially vertical Such base is designated by characters 30 and tubes. The four banks thus provided are arhas four cradles adapted to fit portions of the ranged to enclose a combustion chamber 9 which surfaces of the mud drums 16, 16a, 16b and 160. is squared in horizontal cross section. The face Two of the cradles in the base 30 are shown at 45 of the boiler appearing in Fig. 1 is considered as 320, and 32b, Fig. 4. The other two cradles are the fr0 t a has 5 Steam age 10 and a water shown at 32 and 320, Fig. 3. It is intended that column 12 thereon. Parts f five o t e e g t the boiler illustrated in the drawings be adapted dru s of t boiler pp in these being for use on electric locomotives or in other places the steam and water drum 14 of the front sscwhere the base of the boiler may be subject to tion of the boiler, the water drum 16 of the front shocks and oscillations. I have, therefore, prosection of the boiler, the steam and water drum vided means whereby the boiler is held securely 14a of the left section of the boiler, the water in place, but may be readily removed from the drum 16a of the left section of the boiler and base 30 whenever desired. For this purpose each the water drum 16b of the right section of the of the four mud drums 16, 16a, 16b and has 55 boiler. All four steam and water drums of the one or more brackets 34 fixed to its underside, no

brackets 34 having projecting fingers 36, 36 thereon arranged to receive pivoted pins or eye-bolts 38. The cradles 32, 32a, 32b and 320 are broken out at the locations of the brackets 34, but the base extends beneath such brackets and is provided with openings 38a to receive the bolts 38 so that the boiler may be securely clamped to the base 30 by means of the usual nuts on the ends of the bolts 38, but may be easily released so as to be withdrawn from the base when desired.

The combustion chamber 9 is covered by a roof 40 which rests on the top drums 14, 14a, 14b and 140. As shown in Fig. 3, the front drum 14 and rear drum 140 have angles 41, 41 fixed thereon which engage the sides of the outer tiers of blocks of which the roof 40 is composed, so as to throw a portion of the weight of the roof on the front and rear drums. In order to sustain the thrust of the roof and also to protect the roof against undue radiation, diagonal tubes 42 and 42a are provided, tubes 42 connecting into the rear lower drum 16c and the upper front drum 14 and tubes 42a connecting into the lower front drum 16 and the upper rear drum 140. The thrust of the roof 40 against the upper side drums 14a and 14b is resisted by economizer tubes 44, 44 which are embedded in the roof and extend horizontally transversely to the diagonal tubes 42 and 42a at a level immediately above the drums 14a and 141) so that the ends of the tubes 44 may be conveniently secured to the drums 14a and 141) by straps 46, 45. The economizer tubes 44 therefore not only conserve heat but protect the roof from over-heating and act as structural elements to tie together the top drums of the boiler.

In order that the volume of the combustion chamber 9 may be utilized to best advantage, the generating tubes are so arranged that the products of combustion can pass from the chamber 9 into the banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 only hear the top of the chamber. Any unburned gases are thereby prevented from becoming chilled by contact with the generating tubes, the path of the gases being such that ample time forcombustion is provided even at high rates of combustion. These results are obtained by arranging the lower portions of the tubes 42 and 42a in the same plane with the front row of the tube rows 18 and 180 from the level of the lower drums 16 and 160 to a point well above the centre of the combustion chamber. The vertical portions of tubes 42 and 42a therefore form, with the front rows of tubes of banks 18 and 180, bafi'le walls 48 and 480 preventing the gases from passing directly into the generating banks and forcing them to travel upward in the combustion chamber to a level above the bends in tubes 42 and 42a before entering the banks. Similar baiiie walls 48a and 481) are formed on the other two sides of the chamber 9 by arranging the tubes in the front rows of the banks 180; and 18b close together from the level of the lower drums 16a and 162) up to a point above the centre chamber 9, but running alternate tubes in such front rows in a plane in front of the others for about the upper third of their lengths to permit gases to flow into the banks. The front faces of the baffle walls 48, 48a, 48b and 480, are, however, exposed to intense radiation and generate steam at high rates whenever the boiler is being forced. I prefer therefore to make the tubes 42, 42a and those in the front rows of tube banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 of larger size than the remainder of the generating tubes, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The combustion chamber 9 extends down below the level of the mud drums 16, 16a, 16b and 160 into the base 30, the floor of such chamber and the inner face of the base 30 having a covering 49 of fire-brick or other suitable refractory. A burner 93 is arranged at one corner of chamber 9 at a level below the mud drums so as to dis= charge substantially horizontally at the diagonally opposite corner. The refractory 49 is therefore highly heated and the radiation therefrom not only causes a high steaming rate in the tubes of the bafile wall sections 48, 48a, 48b and 480, but assists in the complete combustion of the fuel so that scarcely any smoke is observable even when the furnace is operating at a rate of 200,000 13. t. u. per cubic foot of furnace volume, provided the burner is adapted to thoroughly atomizc the fuel at the higher rates of combustion.

After passing into tube banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180, the gases are directed downward by baflies 50, 50a, 50b and 500 respectively. Such baffles are placed somewhat to the outside of the centre lines of the banks of the generating tubes and extend as solid plates downwardly from the upper drums 14, 14a, 14b and 14c for a suitable distance. As shown, the plates forming bafiles 50, 50a, 50b and 500 are cut out at a point above the lower drums about one-fifth of the distance between the lower and upper drums to permit the gases to pass around their lower edges. Legs 52, 52, however, are provided for each of bafrles 50, 50a, 50b and 500, such legs preferably being formed an integral extensions of the baiiles and extending downwardly to contact with the upper surfaces of water drums 16, 16a, 16b and 16c to support the baiiles thereon. The outer rows of the generating banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 likewise are set close together for the major portion of the distance from the lower to the upper drums, but such rear rows are opened up for a sufhcient distance below the top drums 14, 14a, 14b and 14c so that the gases can pass upwardly on the outsides of the baflies and then pass out of the banks near their upper outer corners and so around the outer faces of the upper drums into fiues 53, 530;, 53b and 530, such flues leading into a common gas chamber 54 above the roof 40. From the chamber 54 the gases pass into an uptake 56. The uptake 56 is shown as near the front of the boiler but it will be understood that it may be placed wherever convenient, the location of the uptake 56 in the present drawings being that adapted for a particular installation and due to reasons peculiar to such installation.

Feed water for the boiler illustrated in the drawings is supplied through a pipe 58 at the rear right hand corner of the boiler as viewed from the front. From the pipe 58 the water passes through the economizer tubes 44 in series to a point 60 at the front left hand corner of the boiler. From the point 60 feed water is conducted downwardly from the level of the roof through a pipe 62 to a distributing pipe 64, one branch of which runs across the front face of the boiler somewhat above the level of the drum 16 and turns downwardly through a valved connection 66 so as to deliver into the connecting pipe 240: between the drum 16 and drum 16b. The other branch of the distributing pipe 64 runs along the left side of the boiler along the outer side of the generating bank 18a so as to connect with the water connection 240 between drums 16a and 160 at point 66a (Fig. 5) It will be seen that the feed water is arranged to enter the boiler at diametrically opposite points and all four sec tions therefore are supplied equally regardless of steaming conditions. I

Steam is taken off of each of the top drums 14, 14a, 14b and 140 through steam connections 68, 68a, 68b and 680 (Figs. 1 and 2). Such steam connections lead downwardly at the corners of the boiler and connect through releasable joints with the lower ends of superheaters. Two such removable joints are shown at 70 and 70a, Fig. 1, the other two not being'illu strated in the drawings but being similar to joints '70 and 70a. The superheaters for each of the banks are alike and are designated by reference characters '72, 72a, 72b and 720 respectively. The superheaters lie adjacent the inner faces of bafiles 50, 50a, 50b and 500. The tubes of each of the banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 are arranged, as clearly appears in Figs. 3 and 4, to provide space for receiving such superheaters, the spaces for the superheaters running parallel to the drums of the several sections of the boilers and also vertically parallel to thegenerating tubes so that the superheaters can be inserted into the banks from their edges, the

. four sections of which the boiler is composed being of the same size and coming together at their inner faces so that a notch or cut-out '73 is provided at each corner of the boiler permitting the ready insertion and removal of the superheaters to and from the banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 whenever the outer covering '74 is removed.

It is apparent from the drawings that the superheaters 72, 72a, 72b and 720 are individual to the banks 18, 18a, 18b and 180 respectively. Each such superheater is formed of piping arranged in serpentine form, as best appears in Fig. 3. Each superheater is provided with a pair of bars '76, '76 which lie against the inner face of one of .the baffie plates, such as 50, and the piping of each superheater is fastened to the bars 76 by means of U-bolts 78 or other suitable fastening elements, the bars 76 extending downwardly so as to rest on the top surfaces of the mud drums 16, 16a, 16b and 160 respectively. It will be seen that the bars '76 transfer the weights of the superheater sections to the drums without their falling on the generating tubes. The upper ends of the bars 76 moreover are bent away from the plates 50, 50a, 50b and 500, as indicated at 80, 80 (Figs. 3 and 4 whereby the bars are held against movement in the direction away from the plates 50 by contact with the tubes in one of the rows in the generating banks 18. The lower ends of the bars 76 also contact with the tubes in the same row as the tops of the bars so that the superheater is braced against vibration in both directions, movement in one direction being prevented by contact of the bars '76 with the gencrating tubes and the movement in the opposite direction being prevented by contact of the bars 76 with plates 50 which lie in turn in contact with another row of generating tubes. Vibration such as that of a locomotive is thereby prevented from loosening the joints at the ends of the superheaters. However, as the weight of the superheater units does not fall on the generating tubes, there is not enough pressure against such tubes to cause leakage at their joints with the drums. The steam enters each superheater at its lower end and leaves it at its upper end. For collecting the superheated steam I provide a header 82 which surrounds three sides of the boiler, extending along its rear and two lateral faces. The .upper ends of the serpentine pipe of each of the superheaters connect into boxes 84, 84a, 84b and 840, one of which appears in elevation in Fig. 1. Such box opens at its top and connects to an elbowsuch as 86a by means of a releasible joint 88. A second joint 90 connects the elbow 8601 with the header 82. The superheater for the front generating bank 18 connects with the lateral branch of the header 82 at the right hand front corner of the boiler; the superheater for the bank 18a connects with the other lateral branch of the header 82 at the left-hand front corner of the boiler; the superheater for the bank 182) connects. with the header 82 through a Y-fitting 88B at the rear right-hand corner of the boiler; and the superheater for the bank18c connects with the header 82 through a Y-fitting 89 at the left rear corner of the boiler, left and right being taken as when looking from the front of the boiler. The steam offtake from the boiler is shown as passing from the header 82 at the point 90; A safety-valve connection leads from header 82 at point 192 and another safety-valve connection 194 leads from drum 14.

The boiler herein disclosed is intended to utilize liquid or pulverized fuel. The burner 93 for such fuel can be arranged conveniently to discharge into the combustion chamber immediately above the upper edge of the base 30 through a space such as 94 (Fig. 4) provided by the curvature of two of the lower drums 16 due tothe fact that such drums are substantially in contact along their inner elements at the level of their central axes. Below such level two adjacent drums curve away from each other at the corners to form an opening adapted to accommodate a burner.

Burner 93 discharges close to the refractory lining and floor 49 so that such refractory be comes highly heated and promotes the combustion of the fuel from burner 93. The burner is in such position that its flame radiates strongly against the baffle walls 48, 48A, 48B and 48C and the radiation from the hot refractory 49 also largely strikes the walls 48 and assists in increasing the amount of heat absorbed by such walls as radiant energy, thereby decreasing the temperature of the gases leaving the combustion chamber. A boiler in accordance with my invention therefore has high efficiency over a wide load range even though using a moderate number of rows of tubes in the convection banks.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a boiler having an upper steam and water drum, a lower water drum, a bank of vertical tubes connecting said drums, said bank having a substantially vertical space therein open at the end of the bank, of a supporting means in said space resting on said water drum and arranged to divert the Weight thereon substantially entirely away from said tubes, and a superheater having coils fixed to said means, said supporting means and superheater forming a unit adapted for easy removal from said space.

2. A boiler having four sections forming in plan the sides of a rectangle, a feed water heater having a rectangular plan and set above said sections, means for feeding water into said heater, and connections for leading water from the outlet of said heater into two diametrically opposite points in the boiler.

3. The combination of a boiler having four sections forming a rectangle in plan, water connections between said sections, and means for equalizing the steam pressure in said sections, and means for introducing feed water into the 4. The combinationof a base having cradles on its upper portion, a boiler having water drums at its lower end adapted. to rest in said cradles to support the boiler, said drums having brack ets fixed to their lower surfaces, bolts pivoted to said brackets, said cradles having apertures therein adapted to receive said bolts, and nuts on the lower ends of said bolts for clamping said drums to said cradles. v V

5. A boiler having a plurality of sections each including a bank of generating tubes and arranged around a combustion chamber, said banks having their inner faces in juxtaposition whereby cut-out notches are provided at the corners of the boiler, said banks further having spaces extending therethru and opening to said notches and superheaters removably supported in said spaces whereby such superheaters may be inserted into said spaces between the ends of any two adjacent banks.

and also resting directly on the surface of the drum and a superheater secured to said standards.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 6, together with standards in front of the baflle plate and also resting directly on the surface of the lower drum, and a superheater secured to said standards, the generating tubes of the boiler, the plate and standards being arranged to bear against each other near the ends of the generating tubes to minimize lateral vibration.

9. The combination of a boiler having a bank of substantially vertical generating tubes, drums connected to the upper and lower ends of said tubes, a supporting cradle beneath said lower drum, a superheater arranged in said bank, and supporting means for said superheater arranged to transmit its weight to said lower drum and to divert such weight from the generating tubes.

10. The combination of a boiler having four sections arranged to enclose a space having a rectangular plan view, each of said sections having a substantially vertical bank of generating tubes and upper and lower drums, diagonal tubes connecting two opposite lower drums with two opposite upper drums, and a roof structure including feed heater tubes secured to the other two upper drums.

JOHN A. BARNES. 

